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Confessions of a Restless Soul: How I Became Good at Writing (And Eventually began Blogging)

Published December 3, 2014 by Nikshep Apasangi

I have a confession to make.

Contrary to what many may think, I wasn’t good at writing! In fact, as a kid, I usually got scolded for scribbling illegibly in my answer booklets at school. I was a lazy, arrogant and ignorant boy who usually lived in his head most of the time.

I am sure many of you remember the TV series House M.D. I remember watching an episode where one dialogue left an incredible impact on me.

House: “Are you going to base your life on who you got stuck in a room with?“

Eve: “I’m going to base this moment on whom I’m stuck in a room with. That’s what life is.It’s a series of rooms,and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are.” (emphasis is mine)

It made me think of all the people I got stuck with in various rooms. The diverse circumstances and places where I met them. How every interaction played a role in shaping my life. Today, I remembered the dialogue again.

A series of rooms are also the reason why I became a Blogger. And how I started my writing journey. I felt I had to share it with you. This is the story of how a 12 year-old fool fell in love with writing and eventually started using it to take him places.

It was the year 2000. While the whole world was talking about the dot-com bubble, I was grumbling about having to go to piano classes. Those were the days when almost every middle-class Indian parent made sure their kids attended camps, sports coaching or music classes of one form or another during the summer break.

My dad was no exception. He had grown tired of me blowing his hard-earned money by spending time online (Remember the crazily expensive VSNL dial-up connections?). His company had an Officer’s Club where they had a summer camp arranged. Just to use up the remaining funds, they had called some dude to teach piano to all the employees’ kids.

Dad asked me to make a decision. Either I attend the summer camp and weekend piano sessions. Or become a watchman guarding the apartments we lived in. So off I went to become the next Mozart!

The classes were held twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was obvious to any ant, mosquito and human sitting in those piano classes that I had no talent for the instrument. I usually ended up talking to the other sods and distracted them by telling them made-up stories about ghosts and scary places near their homes. The piano teacher decided that I wasn’t worth his time, given the money he was being paid. So he decided to get rid of me and asked me to come that Saturday for some extra lessons. He told me I could leave home early if I wanted to.

I didn’t waste a second and ran home thinking I would bunk the weekend class and cover it up with a lie later. And just like a bad horror movie, my dad had arrived earlier than his usual time and was happily drinking tea. You can guess what happened later. I blurted out that we had all been left early and had an extra class on the weekend. He was obviously delighted at not having to deal with me on the weekend and made sure that I woke up on time that Saturday.

As I made my way to the Club, I noticed that there was a festive air. There were kids whom I’d never seen before, playing and jumping and falling like stupid kids usually do. The club was wrapped in cheap craft paper of various colors and there were parents anxiously guiding their little ones into different rooms.

“Bastard!” , I muttered to myself. The piano teacher had lied to me. He knew I stayed far from the club and had to walk 30 minutes to reach it. This was his cheap revenge. I was fuming. I said a mental goodbye to the club and started walking back.

“Oye, you’re Apasangi’s son right? Where are you going?”

I turned to see a friend of my dad standing there smiling at me. This day was going from bad to worse.

“Yes Uncle” I innocently replied, smiled and explained how I had arrived thinking there was some class and was heading back

“No problem, no problem!! Good you are here! We have special competitions arranged for all kids. I am sure there are some for your age group too. You will participate, no?”

This was the definition of a rhetorical question. If I had not said a Yes, then I would have to listen to my dad’s sermon later as to why I wasn’t going to be of any use to this planet or it’s citizens. So I resigned to my fate and went along with him as he made me sit next to an older girl who was busy writing something on a sheet of paper.

‘Great! I’m stuck in a room full of boring people’, I thought to myself.

“You ready for the essay competition? You must be in the 10-14 category right?” she asked.

I just stared. She was kind of good looking. I decided to say something awesomely intelligent

“Humm” I grunted. I don’t know how that sound came out. I was pretty sure I had atleast 3 sentences planned as a reply.

“Why don’t you give it a shot? For the 10-14 age group they have an essay writing topic too. Topics are put up outside. The winner gets a special prize! Go!” she smiled sweetly and went back to her writing.

I quietly went and saw a bunch of kids jostling each other to note down some topics. Since I was twice their height (only thing I was born with), I could see them easily.

The Board read:

A Bearded guy announced “Please go and be seated in Room B. The competition will start in 5 minutes!”

The entire crowd started moving towards a Room located in the interior part. I followed them to see what would happen. We were all asked to sit on the floor. I was given two blank sheets and a writing pad.

“Please write legibly. Extra points for using relevant examples” the bearded guy said. He looked at his watch.

“OK, it is 10:57 now. You have 3 minutes more before starting!” he shouted.

It was then I realized that most of the others in the room had prepared for this. Their eyes were half closed as if in a trance. They were bloody memorizing what to write. They had mugged up their essays and come to vomit it out. It was a no-brainer that most of them had been told beforehand what the topics were.

I suddenly became very angry. I don’t remember what triggered this anger. Was it the unfair competition? The piano master? Or the bearded guy’s face? I honestly can’t recollect. The only thing I remember now is being stuck in a room full of people I didn’t want to and a competition I hardly knew existed.

“Begin!” the bearded man said and clapped.

I looked around as people around me were dumping text from their head to the paper in furious speeds. One girl was sweating and trying to wipe it off her nose with her hanky while writing non-stop.

All that anger made me focus. I thought about what I could write. The obvious choice was Pollution. It was easy, predictable and I had to only look around to find a relevant example as there was a lot of trash lying in the room. Also, I had written essays on pollution for the last three years. (I don’t know how many of you know this. But Indian kids are made to write essays on Pollution from the age of 9 to 14. The other common thing being the life of B.R. Ambedkar :D)

But most people around me seemed to be writing about this. The guy sitting next to me had written half a page and was drawing some clouds. Guess he didn’t know what ‘essay’ meant. The next best option was writing about my career. At that time, I always imagined I would become a Private Detective. It felt stupid trying to convince a few grown-ups how I would do this. Especially when I had no clue myself. (Detective, Clue – Get it? He he…. Not funny? Anyways)

“10 minutes remaining!” the beardy bellowed. He seemed to be enjoying this.

My sheet was still blank. So I started. Wrote the topic title ‘My Role Model’.

And then it happened.

With hardly any pause, my mind started to produce words faster than I could write. I realized I’d started writing about Mahatma Gandhi and three important events which made him transform into the messenger of peace and non-violence. I wrote how his thoughts and actions inspired the country to achieve freedom. How his life made me decide to devote myself in whatever way possible to the service of others. And how this attitude would help bring peace to the world.

“Last One Minute!” the final warning was announced.

There was some space left under the Topic Title. I filled in “An Eye for an Eye makes the whole World Blind – M.K. Gandhi”

I swear to God. All I remember after that was handing the sheet over, eating some lunch and heading home as if in a daze. There was a wonderful sense of fulfillment and happiness I had never felt before in my life.

It never occurred to me to ask about the essay competition later. Writing itself seemed to be so wonderful that nothing else was needed as a reward for doing it. So a couple of weeks rolled on and I went back to being the random inhabitant of earth. It was a Thursday evening as Dad came home from his work with a huge smile on his face.

“Do you know what your son has done?” he asked Mom.

Mom gave me an ugly look and asked “What did he do now?”

“He has got the first place in Essay Competition. One of the judges works in my department and she was praising your son’s writing skills!”

He was damn happy. He came, thumped my back and said “Good! Keep it up!” and went to tell the news to my Grandmother and my baby sister. They were all ecstatic. It was an awesome day indeed.

And that’s how my writing journey began.

As I grew up, I started writing in every essay and literary competitions possible. I became part of College editorial boards, literary committees and debate clubs. I spent time in rooms and rooms of like-minded souls who loved writing and talking about Books, reading and writing. Before I knew it, I was getting by in my Management course just because of my ability to confuse the Profs with my mastery of the language.

My brush with Blogging began while I was pursuing Engineering. I did it occasionally (nikshepd.blogspot.in) and stopped after I got my first job. But as they say, your true passion calls out to you from even the netherworld at times. And I have realized writing through the medium of a Blog is what keeps me going.

So here I am. Writing this post and talking to you through it. This is what gives me peace of mind and true fulfilment. And I assure you it will only get better with time. I’ll try my best to add value to your lives but I hope you’ll forgive me if at times, my writing falls short of the ideal.

Be aware of the fact that the people you end up getting stuck with in rooms matter. Next time it happens, make sure you keep your eyes and ears open. For you never know when life will make you stumble upon your true purpose in life!

29 Comments

Kamal Kumar

Good to know about the Blogging Journey !
Would look forward for more articles as I am an Avid reader..

Wishing You Every Success and I am sure you articles would be worth reading.

Warm Regards,
Kamal Kumar – HR

December 3, 2014
Reply

Shruthi Herle

Brilliant!
I especially loved the line about life “It’s a series of rooms, and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are”. Maybe you should change the title to that.. a shorter version, of course!

Thank You Kamal and Shruthi Your support means the world to me. Glad you enjoyed it. Shruthi next time, I will use a shorter heading lol

December 3, 2014
Reply

Rohan Chaubey

Hi Nikshep,
How are you doing?

What a great post it is!

I am so touched with your story. So when are you starting to write a book? Oh, yes you heard it write… I think you should start writing a book. You can be an outstanding Author. Think over it!

Coming to your post, that is so well written. The way you have sequenced your story is so naturally correct. And to be honest, usually I get distracted when I read the posts which are more than 2000 words and I read them by taking small breaks but this one was approximately 2030+ words and I read it without any breaks. You can imagine how interesting it was!

Good to know your story. I was also very interested in works of literature when I was 10 – 13 years of age. After that I started thinking on my own ideas. Then recently I started blogging when one of my closest friend Soham( He is also a member of Aha!Now) insisted to do so. And after than I landed at Aha!Now because of Swadhin (a member of Aha!Now).

I think every blogger has a story on how he started to blog. Excited to read other Ahaian’s comments. I am sure they all will notice this great post sooner or later. Harleena ma’am too has a great story on how she started to blog and then started a community.

By the way, the words hello and fellow do form a rhyming pair. (Joking) 😉

Thank you for sharing a wonderful post with us. I completely enjoyed reading this. And I could not resist myself from sharing it on Twitter. This was a master piece! I loved it! I really got totally engrossed into the post and that rarely happens to me.

Welcome to StumbleuponLife Rohan Glad you enjoyed the post so much Looking forward to some awesome collaborations with you!

December 3, 2014
Reply

Harleena Singh

Hi Nikshep,

That was such a lovely story – your real life journey and how you got into writing at that young an age, and I am glad you shared it with all of us – it did take me down memory lane too!

Yes, I remember the time, similar to yours, when our parents wanted the best for us actually – and wanted us to attend all those hobby classes and camps, to make the most of the vacations, not really realizing that we too wanted to just relax and take it easy – and for once do what we really want to do! Oh yes…I remember my time and perhaps that’s one reason we never put the same pressure on our kids now.

But as they say, there is always a reason behind why things happen, and if you go back in time – had you not sat for that competition and seen other kids writing about what you wanted to write about also – pollution, and later changed to ‘career’ – you’d never have known about your hidden talent, your writing skills. And you DO write very well! Rohan is right, you should start writing a book and it would very well I am sure.

Oh yes…if you are made for it, blogging and writing IS your true calling, something I’ve come to realize now, after being a writer and blogger for a while now. It’s one of the best ways to express yourself, especially online, and this is a whole new world, so very different from the offline world of people, isn’t it?

Yes, life gets busy and we all have our chores and work to take care of. I guess somewhere in-between, we need that outlet where we can share and express our feelings – and blogging or writing is one such great medium.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful journey with us, which I am sure would inspire many others here. Have a nice week ahead, and keep writing!

Thank you so much for your kind words Glad it helped you walk down your memory lane! You have wonderfully summed up the feeling behind the post.

Cheers Harleena! You rock!

December 3, 2014
Reply

Nathaniel Kidd

Hello Nikshep,

I love your story. It is so amazing the people I have connected with online who have such profound stories and you are no exception.

I believe that the the people in life that we get “stuck in a room with” can have a big impact on our future and your story is indicative of that. I am sure when you were a kid that all you had to endure would lead you to this point in life.

This story is so inspirational and teaches me that even as an adult, do not underestimate the power of connecting with people because we never know where that experience and interaction will lead to.

Thanks Nathaniel! Welcome to Stumbleupon! I believe stories move all of us deeply. That is why they are the best teachers

December 3, 2014
Reply

Navneet Teotia

Hi Nikshep,

You have been involved in the art of writing for a time when most us do not even think beyond just playing and roaming around all day and it certainly shows in your writing how long have you been playing with the language. It is so great that you found you talent and passion so early.

This is an absolutely amazing talent that you have there and I was hooked from the top to the bottom of the story.

It is great to see that you are leveraging you talent in blogging. Also, as Rohan said,you might want to consider writing a book.

Navneet, I am glad you liked the post! And thanks for your constant feedback and suggestions. They have helped me a lot!

Cheers!

December 3, 2014
Reply

Pragati Jaiswal

Hi Nikshep!

It was the title that caught my attention because I truly belong to that category of people who think that writing skills are “Gifted” . But your story is truly inspiring! Wonderfully crafted! Keep writing

Thanks Pragati I was also of the same school of thought that writing is a gift. However I have come to realize it’s more of a tendency. The skill of writing however is like a muscle 😀 the more you use it, the better it gets!

December 4, 2014
Reply

ikechi

Hi Nikshep

I must say that your story is inspiring and your writing is indeed mastery. One of the profound things that happened to you was the fact that you became a writer even when at the initial stage, you didn’t have it in you.

I can relate to your story. There was a time I did an essay competition during my early childhood where I came 2nd due to grammatical errors but today the rest is history.

Thank for a great life story. I will definitely be thinking of whom I get stuck in the room with.

Sanket Patil

Philip Verghese Ariel

Hi Nikshep,
I am so happy that I found you at AhaNOW’s pages,
Your narrated a wonderful life experience or story of yours!
Its amazing to know such experiences of fellow writers.
I could very well relate some of the areas you mentioned here
My passion for writing started at a very young age and I faced lot of opposition from my own family, but i could resist all and able to succeed. Though I could not reach a high level of writing
I am so happy where I am now, As Rohan mentioned in his comment, people like you and me can very well create a wonderful story of ours in book format LOL I mean such a lot of happenings we can narrate at one go, I am sure you will agree with me, Your essay writing incident is really an amazing one to note, Yes, if we have a firm determination in life I am sure we can achieve it,
I appreciate your firmness on your decision
Keep it up my dear friend’
Keep writing
Let our jottings be profitable and beneficial to our fellow beings
Let them remember us by our jottings
May you have a great time ahead
Keep informed
Best Regared
Have a great weekend too!
~ Philip

Philip I am honored by such praise from an eminent writer and Blogger such as yourself! Thank you for sharing your experience and I am glad you could relate to the post! Hope I can improve the content as the blog grows!

Thank You.
-Nik

December 13, 2014
Reply

Ahmad Imran

Impressed.

They say no one is interested in your stories as in 2015, it the customer’s stories which matter. You have proved it otherwise. Best linking of your story with your readers story. Sorry for being so difficult with my sentence making.

Well Done and keep it up.

From: A new blogger with a passion to write in Tech industry and more importantly, “write better”

December 16, 2014
Reply

Nikshep

Hi Ahmad,

Welcome to SUL! Glad to meet a fellow Blogger and I am happy you enjoyed the post! I wish you all the best with your journey and you can be sure I will check your blogs out.

Feel free to reach out in case you need any help

December 17, 2014
Reply

Tejaswini

Hi Nikshep..
Very well written.. I thoroughly enjoyed it.. I like reading your blogs.. Love the way you write and express it’s wonderful how you related an episode’s dialogue to real life situation.. looking forward for more inspirational stuffs.. 😉